School of Engineering

BBC Click reports on a system developed by CSAIL researchers that creates 3-D motion sculptures based off of 2-D video. The technique, say the researchers, “could help dancers and athletes learn more about how they move.”

Boston Globe reporter Dugan Arnett spotlights MechE senior Alex Hattori, a six-time national yo-yo champion. Hattori, who was originally inspired to attend MIT so that he could take a course where students design and build yo-yos, explains that he doesn’t think he’ll ever stop competing. “I love yo-yoing as much as I did the first day,” he says.

Prof. John Leonard speaks with Bloomberg News about his work with the Toyota Research Institute on developing a system that combines machine learning technologies and sensors to make vehicles safer. “Imagine if you had the most vigilant and capably trained driver in the world that could take over in a situation where a teenager took a curve too fast,” says Leonard of the inspiration for the system.

Prof. C. Cem Tasan speaks with BBC News reporter Chris Baraniuk about the potential for self-healing metals. Baraniuk explains that Tasan and his team are “investigating metals containing tiny structures that resist crack growth in each stress cycle.”

In an article for The New York Times, Prof. Alan Jasanoff reviews Eric Kandel’s book, “The Disordered Mind.” Jasanoff writes that the book provides an engaging “overview of contemporary thinking about the intersection of mental health and neuroscience.”

Boston Globe reporter Martin Finucane writes that MIT researchers have developed sensors that can track dopamine levels in the brain. The sensors could eventually be used to monitor “Parkinson’s patients who receive a treatment called deep brain stimulation,” Finucane explains, adding that the sensors could “help deliver the stimulation only when it’s needed.”

BBC Click reports on an AI system developed by CSAIL researchers that simplifies image editing. “Instead of requiring the user to select the pixels very accurately, our system can just detect it and give the opacities for every object in the image automatically, which can then be used for editing the images in a realistic way,” explains visiting researcher Yagiz Aksoy.

CSAIL researchers have created a system that allows robots to see and pick up objects they have never encountered without assistance from humans, writes Jason Murdock for Newsweek. The researchers are now working on teaching the system to “move objects with a specific goal in mind, such as cleaning a desk,” reports Murdock.

MIT researchers have developed a model that can help detect depression by analyzing an individual’s speech patterns, reports Kaveh Waddell for Axios. Waddell explains that the researchers, “trained an AI system using 142 recorded conversations to assess whether a person is depressed and, if so, how severely.”

CSAIL researchers have developed a new system that gives robots a greater visual understanding of the world around them, reports Heather Kelly for CNN. “We want robots to learn by themselves how to very richly and visually understand lots of objects that are useful for lots of tasks,” explains graduate student Pete Florence.

Spencer Buell of Boston magazine reports that Massachusetts colleges are among the best in the country according to U.S. News and World Report’s latest rankings, with MIT being named the number three school in the country.

Wired reporter Matt Simon writes that MIT researchers have developed a new system that allows robots to be able to visually inspect and then pick up new objects, all without human guidance. Graduate student Lucas Manuelli explains that the system is “all about letting the robot supervise itself, rather than humans going in and doing annotations.”

MIT was named one of the top three colleges in the country on U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of the best colleges, reports Felicia Gans for The Boston Globe. Gans notes that, “MIT was also ranked first for best engineering programs.”

Wall Street Journal reporter Neanda Salvaterra writes about a new MITEI study showing how nuclear power can help reduce carbon emissions. Nuclear power, says MITEI Director Robert Armstrong, “has been demonstrated historically as capable of delivering energy on demand over decades with zero carbon footprint so it’s an option we need to keep in our quiver.”

Axios reporter Ben Geman writes that MIT researchers have found the most effective way to reduce emissions from electricity sources is to use a mix of renewable and other low-carbon tech options. “It’s not about specific technologies. It’s about those key roles that we need filled on the low-carbon team,” explains study co-author Jesse Jenkins.